ACADEMIC LEAVES

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE:Taking a leave to attend professional meetings or for University business

Find out about the leave provisions that apply to you

Absences Fewer than Seven (7) Calendar DaysThese do not require a leave form with the exception of a medical leave. However, any time an academic appointee is absent from campus the Department Chair (or equivalent) must be informed. Additionally, the academic appointee is expected to arrange for his/her university responsibilities to be appropriately covered. The chair is responsible for ensuring that these arrangements have been made.

Short Term Leave (between seven (7) and thirty (30) calendar days) Effective April 1, 2015, these leaves are now delegated to the Deans (or equivalent) for approval. All such requests must be submitted to the Dean via the Department Chair well before the actual leave dates on a UPAY 573 Leave of Absence Form for review and final decision. Per APM 752-6 “if an appointee is granted this type of leave, the appointee’s department chair shall be responsible for adequate replacement of the faculty member during the period of the leave, except that the appointee receiving the leave shall be responsible for the submission of any course reports, etc., required during the period of the absence.” Thus, as with shorter leaves, approval of the leave requires that the faculty member’s university responsibilities are covered. Signature of the chair on the approval leave form verifies that this is the case. All senate leaves over 30 days require the approval of the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel (VPAP). Refer to the Delegation of Authority Chart for final approval authority.

Research Leaves Greater Than 30 Calendar Days Senate leaves proposed for longer than 30 calendar days that are not sabbatical leaves require the approval of the VPAP. All such requests must be submitted to VPAP via the Dean’s office well before the actual leave dates on a UPAY 573 Leave of Absence Form for review and final decision. Department Chairs should be aware that the campus has begun to operate under the following guidelines with regard to leaves greater than 30 days:

If the leave is a one-time event, allowing one to focus on scholarly pursuits, it will be considered a sabbatical leave except for the following: Some Colleges/Schools may have provisions and/or policy for Fellowship Leaves. Approval of such leaves will require a clear description on the UPAY 573 to differentiate the leave from a sabbatical. The burden of proof rests with the academic appointee. Consult with your Dean’s Office for more information.

If the leave is being requested in order to carry out a sponsored research project approved by the Office of Research or is an approved Hatch project and if the approved research project contains objectives that explicitly require extended off-campus travel (e.g., to study sediment loads in different parts of the Colorado River), and is a recurring feature of the approved research project (e.g., requiring two or more seasons to complete), then it would qualify as an exceptional leave. Approval of such leaves will require a clear description on the UPAY 573 to differentiate the leave from a sabbatical. The burden of proof rests with the researcher.

In some cases, a faculty member may need to be away from campus for an extended period of time (e.g., to live near the headwaters of the Colorado River for six weeks) to carry out extensive research that involves his/her graduate students or others. Such leaves (occurring during the academic year for an academic year employee or anytime during the year for a fiscal-year employee) may qualify as a “change-of-duty-station” if the individual is able to carry out his/her normal faculty duties (student mentoring, research and service) in the remote location. Again, the burden of proof rests with the researcher and in the absence of a clear description of how the faculty member’s duties will be carried out, the leave may be classified as a sabbatical.

In all cases, (normal or exceptional leaves) the leave form (UPAY 573) must be submitted early enough to allow the appropriate, thorough review by the Department Chair, Dean and VPAP before the traveler departs. Requests that are received late may be denied. Travelers should be aware that it is not unusual for the approval process to take up to one month for completion, depending on how the forms are transmitted and the availability of key individuals. Travelers should file the leave request forms before making travel arrangements.

In addition, faculty members are strongly encouraged to become familiar with APM 025, Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Faculty Members and APM 671, Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Health Science Compensation Plan (HSCP) Faculty. The APM 025 and APM 671 policies regarding reporting of Conflict of Commitment and Compensated Outside Activities affirms faculty responsibilities as members of the University of California and provides mechanisms to ensure that activities outside the University do not interfere with the fulfillment of these responsibilities. The policy specifies limits on the time that can be devoted by faculty members to certain types of compensated and non-compensated outside professional activities. APM 025 applies only to Academic Senate members (full-time or part time) and APM 671 applies only to faculty who are members of the HSCP.

Request approval

See above or refer to the Delegation of Authority Chart for final approval authority.

Make sure your benefits are in order

During a paid leave of absence, most of your benefits continue as usual, unless you cancel them. Refer to the Leave Without Pay fact sheet and the Paid Leave fact sheet for information about benefits during your leave period. You may wish to consult with the Benefits Office ( 2-2636 or benefits@ucr.edu) regarding continuation of benefits while you are on leave.

When you return to UCR, contact your Benefits representative to review your benefits and (if necessary) restart them